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"You can't see it?"

But Hattori Sanzo's question left Qin Fang stunned, and he couldn't help but feel surprised. It was truly unexpected.

Hattori Sanzo shook his head blankly, giving a negative response.

And when Qin Fang's gaze shifted to Qin Zi, she too responded with a bewildered shake of her head, not knowing what it all meant.

Although Sakura held a deep grudge against Qin Fang and didn't want to pay him any heed, she was indeed very curious now. She also shook her head a bit strangely, then looked at Qin Fang with a very eerie expression. Even though she couldn't speak, her eyes seemed to be asking, "See what?"

"Isn't that just an ordinary Lake Heart Island? There's nothing special about it..."

Hattori Sanzo couldn't help muttering again. He had carefully scrutinized it once more but still couldn't spot anything unique.

He only saw seemingly ordinary scenes, nothing that would surprise them to such an extent.

"Could our eyes have deceived us?"

Seeing that the others didn't look like they were faking it, Qin Fang was also a bit puzzled. He muttered to himself while glancing at his companions around him.

However, although those around him were also confused, after exchanging a few looks, they vaguely sensed something but chose to remain silent in unison.

Even though they were supposed to be companions in the same group now, Qin Fang and the others should not have hidden anything. But there was still an outsider, and that was Sakura.

Hattori Sanzo was technically an outsider too. However, with everything he had done, it was inevitable that he could not return to his previous position. He could only continue down a path with Qin Fang and the others, making him effectively one of them.

Only Sakura, whom Qin Fang kept by his side as a maid, but truth be told, he was merely holding onto her, not truly trusting her.

Now she was mute and couldn't speak, but that didn't mean she couldn't pass on messages, unless all her limbs were disabled.

But that was impossible, so they had to keep a closer watch on her, and there were things she shouldn't know that naturally she didn't need to know.

"Let's go, let's take a look at the lake..."

Qin Fang and the others didn't say much more, just gave a simple order and the group went down from the small hill towards the mysterious lake in the prairie.

Qin Fang, being quite skilled at riding, naturally whipped his horse into a gallop, followed closely by Ji Xiang, Monk Wukong, and the others. Hattori Sanzo and Qin Zi, however, received a signal from Qin Fang and slowed down, dragging Sakura along and gradually widening the distance.

"Qin Fang, what's going on here?"

Seeing Sakura getting further away, out of earshot, Qin Fang and the others finally gathered together, and Monk Wukong couldn't hold back and immediately asked.

"I don't understand the specifics either, but I did notice something... It seems they really didn't see anything, and… they're all Fusang people!"

Qin Fang shook his head, not particularly certain but voicing a little suspicion forming in his mind.

Such speculation by Qin Fang was quite laughable, almost absurd. This expanse of prairie, this little lake, and the Lake Heart Island were all on Fusang land.

However, earlier, when they saw that scene, Qin Fang and his three companions saw it clearly, but Qin Zi, Hattori Sanzo, and Sakura saw nothing.

Apart from them all being Fusang people, Qin Fang really couldn't find any other distinguishing factors...

To be more precise, the four of them who saw the scene, including Qin Fang, seemed to be Dragon Country people, or at least had Dragon Country lineage.

Ji Xiang, although Thai, was of Chinese descent, pure-blooded, not much different from Qin Fang and the others.

But factually, this lake and island had existed on this land for a very long time, seen by not millions but at least hundreds of thousands of people.

Yet, apart from the four of them, no one else seemed to have made such a bizarre discovery, which to some extent proved Qin Fang's hypothesis wasn't completely baseless – not just random guessing...

"Let's not talk about that now, I just want to know if the grand architectural complex we saw really exists..."

Monk Wukong hesitated for a moment, then spoke with a bit of bitterness.

Earlier, standing on that slope and gazing out over the lake and the Lake Heart Island, aside from its azure waters, they actually discovered that this not-so-large island held a grand architectural complex.

Not the kind of modern urban architecture, but a vast, ancient-style architectural complex... Most importantly, the architecture they saw had a very distinct Dragon Country flavor, clearly different from those of the locals!

If this were in the Dragon Country, Qin Fang and the others wouldn't find anything unusual. But they were in Fusang.

Moreover, they were in Hokkaido, a region separated from mainland Fusang, which made it even stranger...

If you add to that the fact that Qin Zi, Hattori Sanzo, and Sakura saw nothing, this Lake Heart Island is indeed quite eerie.

"No matter what, let's go and take a look!"

Qin Fang's intuition told him that the scene they just saw should be real. However, because it was so far away, his scouting skill couldn't be used, and he could only rely on his own guesses.

But one thing was certain: the few of them had indeed been captivated by this scene, and a strong sense of curiosity drove them closer to the lake.

You can look at the mountain from afar, but it'll wear out a horse running towards it!

This, Qin Fang did know, but now he felt there should be another saying—it wears out a horse running across the grassland. It didn't feel like it on the hillside, but once they descended, they realized the distance was anything but ordinary.

The group rode fast horses for nearly half an hour before they barely reached the edge of the lake...

And at this time, when looking from the lakeside to the Lake Heart Island in the middle, Qin Fang's face turned green.

"It's so far?"

From the hillside, the view could almost cover the entire lake, and the Lake Heart Island didn't seem particularly large. But standing by the lake now, they realized how big the lake really was. Not only could they not see the other side of the lake, but even the Lake Heart Island was just a vague black dot.

Moreover, the weather in Japan was good, with the azure sky and the blue lake blending into one. If Qin Fang hadn't already marked the direction, they probably wouldn't even be able to find the direction of the Lake Heart Island.

Looking at this expanse of blue water, there wasn't even the shadow of a single boat around, and it was a vast grassland with plenty of green grass but hardly any trees. It was impossible to build a boat even if they wanted to...

"How do we get across?"

Ji Xiang had a wry smile, the Lake Heart Island was in the distance, hardly visible, so how could they be sure about what they saw earlier?

"Don't worry, let's take a closer look first..."

However, Qin Fang smiled a calm smile, reached into his clothes, and fished out a military binocular.

With this binoculars, Qin Fang immediately took a closer look at the Lake Heart Island in the distance.

"Wow, where did you get that from?"

Ji Xiang was puzzled when he saw Qin Fang take out a binocular and was stunned for a moment before expressing his surprise, "Do you have more? Do you have more?"

"Huh? How can that be?"

But Qin Fang ignored him, concentrating on observing the distant Lake Heart Island, and immediately froze, making an incredulous exclamation.

"What's wrong?"

Monk Wukong and the others were also puzzled and asked.

"See for yourself..."

Qin Fang chuckled wryly, handed the binoculars to Monk Wukong, and said.

Although Monk Wukong had a puzzled look, he took the binoculars and looked toward the Lake Heart Island.

But it was as if he hadn't seen it, and once he saw it, his expression shifted. Although not as surprised as Qin Fang, his expression was not much different.

Then he didn't say a word, silently passing the binoculars to Ji Xiang, who then gave them to Song Qingshan... After they all had a look, their expressions were all more or less the same.

"Could it be we were all seeing things earlier?"

Finally, Ji Xiang couldn't help but question, though his tone clearly hinted at disbelief.

Earlier, all four of them had looked through the binoculars to see that the Lake Heart Island was just a small island. Apart from some simple trees and rocks, there was nothing else.

Forget grand structures, there wasn't even a small thatched hut; it was practically an abandoned island rarely visited by people.

"It's possible for one person to see things, but all four? That's far less likely... Even hallucinations wouldn't align perfectly among four different people!"

Monk Wukong shook his head, dismissing Ji Xiang's guess.

"This Lake Heart Island...is definitely suspicious!"

Qin Fang concluded decisively. Seeing the same scene, all four were unlikely to have shared the same hallucination, suggesting the Lake Heart Island was indeed problematic.

"Remember what Saburo Kohara said?"

It was Song Qingshan who suddenly remarked casually.

Only then did Qin Fang and the others remember that Saburo Kohara had earlier warned them that there was something strange about the Lake Heart Island in this lake. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to support it by voting with recommendations or monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is the greatest motivation for me.)

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